Aug 14, 2016

Sunday Smooch with Ruby Finalist Stefanie London!

Today I'm delighted to introduce another wonderful feature of Sunday Smooches showcasing the LoveCat finalists in this year's Romance Writers of Australia RuBY Awards. Today we are celebrating with Stefanie London and her fabulous book, Pretend it's Love!

The Ruby is Australia's premier award for Romance authors. it's open to all Australian and New Zealand authors and the finalists are chosen by reader judges. We are so delighted and excited for Stefanie as this is her first and well deserved nomination for this award. Congratulations Stefanie!But, before we share the smooch... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Jan VanEngen. Can you please contact Katrina on katrina (at) katrinacudmore (dot) com to receive your copy of The Best Man's Guarded Heart .........

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from the fabulous Stefanie London ........

Bar manager Paul Chapman is sick of his family’s traditional
ideals. Marriage, babies, and a white

picket fence? Not his gig. But now that
his ‘golden child’ big brother is tying the knot, Paul’s screwed. His ex will
be there...and she’s having his cousin’s baby. Unless he wants to show up to
the wedding alone and face his family’s scrutiny, he needs a girl on his arm.
Now.

Cocktail specialist Libby Harris has spent her life earning
the nickname Little Miss Perfect, all to win the love of her wealthy, controlling
father. But she deviated from his plan, and now her business is on shaky
ground. If it fails, she might as well kiss his respect—and her dream—good-bye.
Her only hope? Convince the hottest bar in town to take on her product.

Luckily for her, the owner’s brother is sexy as sin and in
need of a perfect girlfriend...

Scene set-upPaul and Libby are at his parent’s house for
dinner. They’ve agreed to engage in a fake relationship for mutual gain, and
now they’re acting the part of his family. They’ve gone into the kitchen to put
the dishes away and Paul works out that the family are watching the, very
closely. So, being the cheeky guy that he is, he decides to take advantage of
the situation.

She looked
behind her to make sure they were alone. “This is a business arrangement,
nothing more. I don’t want things to get messy.”

Messy was
an understatement. She didn’t want to get used and discarded for a newer model
the way she had back in university. The way her father had done to her mother years
before that.

History would
repeat itself if she wasn’t careful, and Paul would only be able to use her
if she let him. But she wouldn’t. Their arrangement gave her something
precious—an opportunity, a chance—and she would otherwise keep him at a
distance.

“But
getting messy is so much fun.” He reached out to her and pulled her to him, his
hips flat against her belly as he wedged her against the kitchen bench.
“Besides, they’re spying on us.”

“Who?”

“My
family.” He inclined his head back toward the kitchen door with a movement so
subtle she felt as though they were spies communicating undercover. “We should
sell it; we don’t want them thinking this is just business.”

His hands
touched her hips, his fingers tracing the line at the top of her jeans just
under her shirt. The throbbing started up again, insistent. Demanding.

“They don’t
think that,” she protested, but her hands came up to his chest as if controlled
by a puppet master tugging her strings.

His muscles
were hard beneath her palms, and she had to stop herself from rubbing against
him. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a flash of red. Gracie.

“Okay,
maybe they are watching us.”

“Ready to
play the part?” One hand came up to cup the angle of her jaw. “Let’s see what
kind of actress you are.”

“This is
purely for show,” she said, the breath rushing out of her lungs as his face
hovered close to hers.

“Of
course.” His lips brushed the space next to the corner of her mouth, so close
and yet the distance felt like pure, unadulterated torture. “You won’t enjoy
this at all.”

“I won’t.”

Liar,
liar, pants on fire.

He angled
her head, coming down over her in a way that was completely possessive and in
control. As his lips parted hers, she sighed against him, her body losing the
ability to hold itself upright. Every nerve ending in her body sparkled like
New Year’s fireworks, and her fists curled into his T-shirt.

The moment
his tongue touched hers her mind went blank, the taste of wine on his lips and
the scent of his skin driving her to a point of desperation. His fingers thrust
into her hair, pulling her head back so he could take more, demand more. Taste
more.

Unable to
stop herself, Libby pressed her hips against him, gently rubbing up and down
until a wonderfully guttural sound came from the back of his throat. He was hard
beneath her hands, the muscles in his chest perfectly shaped. The press of his
thighs against hers enough to spark wild images in her mind.

“You seem
fairly invested,” he murmured against her lips, pulling away from the kiss with
a dark fire in his eyes, “for someone who’s not enjoying herself.”

Huge congratulations to the fabulous Stefanie on her Romance Writers of Australia's Ruby nomination! Please leave a comment to go into the draw to win an eCopy of this wonderful read.

Also, come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and another smooch will be posted!

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